Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Photo of the Day

The above photo, which shows part of a 50-mile wide dust storm as it traveled over a Phoenix neighborhood last night, was taken by @JordanDepot and found via the Atlantic, which has a collection of videos and images of the storm. Adam Clark Estes notes dryly (no pun intended):

Now, we have a new reason to compare the Great Recession to the Great Depression: Steinbeck-style dust storms. Tuesday evening, a massive cloud of darkness known as a "habub" overtook Phoenix. The National Weather Service reports that the wall of dust towered 8,000 to 10,000 feet high before it hit the Phoenix valley, and local meteorologists estimated the storm to be about 50 miles wide when it struck the city.

Environmentalists remind us that the conditions that create dust storms can be linked to climate change and poor farming practices. Today, the Earth is twice as dusty as it was in the 19th-century. At least we have YouTube and Twitpic to document the incredibly terrifying consequences?